Blood Ties: My Version
by Mandy8771
Summary: So, I've found the entire series of Blood Ties on Youtube, which made me fall in love with it again. I came up with this idea after watching the series again, so this is basically my own version of Blood Ties. It contains all the same characters, plus my own original characters. Actual summary: An old friend of Henry's shows up needing the help of Vicki's team. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Aria felt that presence again. The presence of someone following her. The presence that she's felt for years. She finally made it to the address of the ad in the paper she was holding. _"Vicki Nelson Private Investigator. No case too strange. Supernatural is our specialty._" She walks into the building and then into the office. When she walks in, she sees a perky goth girl sitting at the desk.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asks.

"Um. Not really. I didn't really think I could uh, explain my situation over the phone." Aria responds.

"Well, you're in luck because we have an opening. Let me tell Vicki and then you can go on in." She says. "What's your name?" She asks.

"Aria." She says. The goth girl nods before disappearing behind the doorway. Aria looks around the office a bit before the goth girl comes to get her.

"Coreen, tells me that you have interesting situation." The woman Aria presumes to be Vicki states.

Coreen. That must be goth girl's name, she thinks. "Uh, yes." She answers.

"Want to tell me what this is about?" Vicki says.

Aria sighs. "I'm being followed. Stalked, if you will. I get pictures, hang up phone calls, the works." She starts off.

"Okay, have you contacted the police about this?" Vicki asks looking up from her notepad.

"I can't go to the police." Aria says.

"And uh, why is that exactly?" Vicki asks taking off her glasses looking at her potential client.

"This is more of supernatural case." Aria says.

"Supernatural how exactly?" Vicki responds

"Supernatural in the fact that I'm a Witchess or as some like to call a Witch." Aria states. "This stalker has been an enemy of mine for over hundreds of years. He is a Warlock, more powerful then I, due to the fact that he's killed thousands of our kind and draining their powers for his gain. He finally has more power then myself and he will use that to kill me. Mrs. Nelson, please I need your help." She says.

"Aria, I want to help you, I do, but I'm sure how you expect me to help you stop a powerful Warlock, if you can't stop him yourself." Vicki says.

Aria sighs. "Maybe not you specifically." She starts off. "But rumor has it that you have a resource that I could certainly use."

"Which is?" Vicki says still not following.

"Me." Henry interrupts walking into the office. Aria looks behind her to the man that she hasn't seen in years.

"Hello, Henry." She says.

"You two know each other?" Vicki asks pointing between the two of them. The way that both of Aria and Henry were staring at one another answered Vicki's question quicker then spoken words could.

"We go way back." Henry says.

"Way back." Aria adds.

"Why am I not surprised?" Vicki mumbles, of course neither of them hears.

"Well, anyway, can we stick to the task at hand? Like me getting the details about this case?" Vicki says.

"Right, go ahead." Henry says sitting in the chair next to Aria.

"I have enough to cover a few weeks of your time, but I would hope it doesn't take that long. I can't hide from him anymore, so the sooner we can figure out how to beat him, the better." Aria says taking out huge envelope from her bag.

"Okay, We'll look into, but I can't promise you anything." Vicki says.

"I know you're probably thinking that I've lived long enough, that why does it matter if I die, but this isn't about my life. It's about what will happen if I die and he gains my power. He will cause great havoc on Earth and many people will die." Aria says standing up before walking out of the office.

Henry follows her and grabs her arm. "Aria." He says. Aria looks up at him. "I've missed you." He whispers.

She smiles placing her hand on his cheek. "And I you." She whispers. "But I need to go." She says.

"Let me go with you." He says. "Walk you home." He says.

"I can't let you do that. If he sees you with me, it won't end well." She says leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I'll see later." She whispers before vanishing before his eyes.

Henry sighs before walking back in Vicki's office.

"So, what's the story with her?" Vicki asks when he walks in.

"We grew up together. Her father was a nobleman and her mother a lady of the queen. Before I met Christina, Aria and her mother left suddenly, rumor was that her mother was of the devil's spirit and took Aria with her, when her mother was set for trial. I never heard from her again until after I was turned. She was walking down the streets of France, when I saw her. That is when she told me what she was and why she had to leave. She knew what I was and we were together, lovers for quite a few years, but I made her leave to save her from Christina. She came into my territory and I was afraid that she would cause harm. I told Aria, I didn't love her anymore, that it was time for me to move on and so should she. That I was only carrying on our relationship because she reminded me of who I used to be." Henry says looking out the window. "I ran into her again in the 1800's, we had an affair for a few nights before she was taken, suspected of witchcraft. She was able to escape and I had never heard from her again, until now." He whispers.

"That's quite a story." Vicki says.

"It's our story." He says. "Which is why we need to save her. I know the Warlock she's talking about. It's her father." Henry says. "He's extremely dangerous and that is why she had to leave court with her mother. He was after their power and their lives. He has already taken her mother's life centuries ago and he will not stop until he has hers."

* * *

It was the next night and Henry found a knocking on his door. When he went to answer, he could already sense her. He opens the door letting her in. "I thought you said it wouldn't be good for you to be seen with me?" Henry says.

"If we're inside, we're not really seen are we?" Aria says taking off her coat. "I assume after I left, Vicki interrogated you about our past?" She says walking around his apartment, looking at his sketches.

"She did." Henry says walking over to her, watching her.

"I've seen your work. Your graphic novels." She says. "I've also seen that I make quite bit of an appearance in them as well." She adds.

"I've never forgot about you." He says.

"Well, what about now?" Aria says turning her body towards to him to look at him. "There's something going on with you and Ms. Nelson." She says.

"We're friends. Work partners. That's it." Henry says.

"But you want it to be more." She states.

"There was a time that I did, yes. I drank from her in a time of need, the connection from that stays with me, but I've moved on. It would never work between us anyway." Henry says.

"It never worked between us either, but we still keep coming back to each other." She whispers walking over to Henry.

"It was never us that didn't work. It was circumstances beyond our control that didn't work with us." He whispers.

"You told me you didn't love me." Aria whispers getting closer to Henry.

"I lied." Henry says.

"And how do I know that's not a lie?" She whispers. He doesn't answer, he just takes her face in his hands and kisses her. She responds to the kiss immediately wrapping her arms around his neck. They were frantically making their way towards Henry's bedroom, when they were interrupted by a knock. Henry sighs placing his head on her shoulder.

"It's Vicki." He sighs. Aria nods kissing Henry again quickly.

"You should get the door, while I find my shirt." She smirks. He gets up from the bed and heads to the door, opening it.

"I've been trying to call you." Vicki says walking in.

"I'm fine, Vicki, how are you? What don't you come right in?" Henry says before Aria emerges from the bedroom.

"Oh, so that's why you were ignoring my calls." Vicki says.

"I didn't hear my phone, so I wasn't intentionally ignoring your calls." Henry says.

"Yeah, I highly doubt those vamp ears of yours couldn't hear your phone." Vicki says.

"Are you going to continue talking about the lack of answering your calls, or get to why you came over here in the first place?" Henry says. "I take it would be about the case?" He says.

"It is actually." Vicki says looking over at Aria.

"So, what is it?" Aria says.

"We need to head into the office." Vicki says. "Coreen as all the information there."

"Let me go first. If he's following me, he'll be gone by the time you two head out." Aria says grabbing her coat.

"Be safe." Henry says. Aria gives him a small smile before heading out.

"So, while I'm looking into this case for you, you're sleeping with the client?" Vicki says.

"Nothing happened, thanks to you." Henry says walking over to grab a shirt and his coat.

"Look, this case is nothing like we've experienced before. I might know a little bit about the supernatural world, but this whole witchcraft thing and a powerful warlock, is new territory. I need you focused about the case and not her." Vicki says.

"Me being focused on her is what will save her. My love for her is what will push me to make sure her father is destroyed once and for all." Henry says. "Now, shall we head to the office?" Henry says pointing to the door. Vicki looks at him, shaking her head, then walking out, with Henry following behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Aria walks into the office meeting Coreen. "I can't believe that I'm actually meeting a Witch. This is so cool." She says.

"You're very enthusiastic about these sort of things aren't you." Aria says.

"It's very intriguing. I've always been interesting in the supernatural, but I never knew that it was real until now. Now, I want to know everything I can about it." Coreen says.

"Curiosity killed the cat. Our world is more dangerous then not, Coreen. Better be careful on what you learn." Aria says.

"You sound just like Henry." She says grabbing the book she had been reading all night.

"Because we both have seen the dangerous and dark parts of our world. It's not something to play around with." Aria says. "Vicki said that you had information?" She says changing the subject.

"I do. I found out the ritual that the Warlock must be using to track down others of your kind and killing him." Coreen says.

"A simple tracking spell is all he would need. We can also sense others around, just like Henry can sense you and others." Aria says.

"I figured that, but if all of the people he killed knew he was coming, how did he get to them?" Coreen says. "So, I dug a little deeper and found that he has to be doing a scared ritual. It not only tracks others, but it slowly drains them of their powers AND draws them to him, so he can finish the draining and the killing." She says. "How could you not know something like this?" Coreen says.

"My mother trained me. She wasn't into dark magic and never wanted me to be either. She skipped those lessons, although there have been many times where I've had to teach myself in order to save my life." Aria says taking the book from Coreen. "There is much more to magic then spells, and rituals. There is much more to learn then our many lifetimes can cover. That's why to become powerful, we must drain the magic from others. All of their power and knowledge then become our own. It becomes part of us and we get stronger." Aria says.

"Have you ever killed another?" Coreen asks.

"I have." Aria asks. "Any more questions?"

"Uh, not right now." Coreen says noticing Vicki walking in.

"Questions about what?" Vicki asks.

"I was just filling in Coreen here on some knowledge of my people." Aria asks.

"Right." Vicki says. "So, Coreen, what is it that we have to do."

"I have to play my father's game." Aria says. "I have to think like him. According to this book, he's using a tracking and draining ritual. He's using it slowly suck the power out of us and using it as a way to get those he's after to come to him, which means that he'll probably be doing the same to me soon, if he hasn't already." Aria says.

"Okay, so what does this mean? You get your magic wand and say bippity bop pity boo?" Vicki asks.

"I'm afraid it's much more complicated then that." Henry says. "Aria, are you sure you want to do this?" He says.

"I have too. If not for me, then for all the lives he's already taken, or for those he will take in the future if he gets to me. For my mother." Aria says. Henry sighs placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

Aria sighs. "I must warn you. This is very dangerous for you. For all of you." She says glancing to Henry. "I'll understand if you decide to walk away." Aria says.

"No way. I'm totally in." Coreen says.

"Eager aren't we." Aria says.

"Look, you hired me and I never quit a case. I've been through demon summoning, getting marked by a demon, and a whole lot of other weird, supernaturalness things, We're good." Vicki says.

Aria sighs. "You don't know what you were agreeing too." She says.

"Neither do you." Henry says. "This involves Dark Magic. Something you barely know anything about." He says.

"I know enough." Aria says.

"But you don't. Your mother would never approve of this." Henry says frustrated.

"My mother is dead, god rest her soul, because of HIM. She would want me to fight! Do everything in my power to stop him." She says.

"And what happens if you can't." Henry says.

"Then I die and he wins, but at least I tried." Aria says. "She would want me to try." She says.

"I won't let you do this. We'll find another way." Henry says.

"There isn't another way, Henry." Aria says. "I need to get everything for the ritual. I'll see you later." She says before leaving.

* * *

"Why did you show her that?" Henry says to Coreen. "Why didn't you wait till we were here?" He says pacing back and forth.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. I was shocked she knew nothing about the ritual in the first place." Coreen says.

"What's the big deal? She's a Witch, what's so bad about the ritual?" Vicki says. "And come to think about it. I thought you hated magic in the first place, so how do you keep going back to her." Vicki says.

"Aria, doesn't involve her self in the dark arts. I do hate magic, but she doesn't use hers for evil. Besides, I've known her my whole life. For centuries, that doesn't just disappear because I found out who she really is." He says.

"Okay, you still didn't answer the reasoning behind why you don't want her to do the ritual." Vicki says.

"Because she doesn't know the cost of it." Henry says. "Like I said before she doesn't practice the dark arts of magic, which means that she's not trained well enough to know how they work, how to know the consequences." He says. "If she succeeds with this ritual, she will then take upon all of her father's power and knowledge. Because he is so powerful, he could easily take over her body and live through her." Henry says. "This will kill his body, but not his soul. Not his power." Henry says. "It's almost sunrise. Find another way." He says looking at Coreen before heading home.

Vicki sighs. "Well, that was interesting." She sighs. "Can't we just have one case. One case that doesn't involve magic, warlocks, demons, or some other supernatural aspect." She says. "Look, it's getting late, or early, why don't we take a break. Get a few hours of a sleep and come back to this." Vicki says.

"Are you okay?" Coreen asks.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Vicki asks.

"Because ever since you found out that Aria and Henry have history, you've been on edge." Coreen points out.

"Only because I know how Henry can be. He'll do anything to protect and save those close to him. I don't want him risking himself or getting hurt because of her." Vicki says.

"He's Henry. He'll be fine. You don't live 5 centuries by making rash decisions." Coreen says packing up. "I'll come back by 5." She says. "But I'm taking these with me, to do some research myself." She says. "Goodnight." She says.

Vicki nods before heading into her office. She sighs sitting at her desk. One of her many talents that made her job easier was being able to read people. She couldn't read Aria and that was frustrating her. She did see how her being here as affected Henry. She's never seen him like this and that worried her. She felt as if there were more to their story, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She watches the sunrise before heading to her little futon on the office and taking a quick nap.


	3. Chapter 3

"Have you noticed that this woman in Henry's graphic novels look a lot like Aria?" Coreen says as she flips through the pages of the newest edition of Blood Price. Vicki grabs the book from Coreen taking a glance before throwing the book on the desk.

"We have work to do." Vicki says grabbing herself another helping of the Chinese they ordered.

"Right." Coreen says flipping through the pages of an unmarked book.

"Do we have Aria's address?" Vicki asks.

"I think so why?" Coreen says looking up from the book and at Vicki.

"I think I'm going to go snoop around, maybe see if I can see this father of her lurking around." Vicki says grabbing her leather jacket.

"Would this snooping around might also including sneaking into her apartment?" Coreen smirks.

"I need to know everything I can about my clients. If that means I need to snoop around her living quarters, then so be it." Vicki says. Coreen just smirks shaking her head as Vicki heads out.

"Let me know if you find anything." Vicki calls back.

Vicki hailed a cab and gave the driver the address written down on the small piece of paper Coreen had given her. Once the cab stops, she pays for the meter before getting out. She looks around the area looking for any specious male figures, but doesn't see much of anything. She stands outside by the corner of the entrance door to the apartment and waits for Aria to leave.

"Good evening James." Aria smiles to the doorman.

"Good Evening, Ms. Aria." He smiles back. "Is a cab on it's way?" He asks.

"No. I'm walking tonight. Fresh air will do me well." She says.

"Well, have a good one." He says. She smiles nodding to him and heading in the opposite direction of Vicki.

* * *

Henry's door was already unlocked and opened before she had the chance to knock.

"Well, hello there." Aria laughs. "I could never sneak up on you, even when we were kids, before you had the super vamp senses. "She says.

He smiles a bit before heading back into his apartment. Aria sighs following him in.

"Are you really going to be like this?" She asks. "There is no other way Henry. Believe me, I wish there was, but there isn't." She says.

"You don't know that! You don't know what this ritual will do to you." He says. Aria walks over to him. "Dark magic is not something to mess around with. Especially, when you're not familiar with it." He says.

"Fine. I will not do the ritual, as long as we find another way to stop him." Aria says.

"I will find another way." Henry whispers. "There has to be another way." He says.

"You look tired." Aria says placing her hands on his cheeks. "You haven't fed yet." She notices.

"I've had a lot on my mind." He says.

"Well, I'm here now." Aria whispers. "I think we both deserve to get away from reality for a bit." She says looking up at him. "It has been, what, over 200 years." She whispers.

Henry's eyes go black and his fangs appear. He places his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him. He moves her flowing blond hair to the side before sinking his teeth in the side of her neck. Aria gasps gripping on to his arm and closing her eyes. Henry removes himself from her neck, wiping his mouth, and looks at her. Saying nothing, she takes his hand and pulls him into his bedroom. She climbs onto the bed and he follows her.

"Expecting any interruptions tonight?" She whispers as she unbuttons his shirt. He shakes his head smirking down at her. "Good. Then we have the whole night." She whispers before kissing him while pulling his shirt down his arms.

It didn't take long for all clothing materials to be removed and for Henry's lips to be touching every inch of her body. With every moan coming from Aria's lips, Henry would smirk before making his way back up her body, kissing her neck, whispering sweet and dirty nothings in her ear. Henry brought their tangled hands above her head and slowly pushed himself into her. Aria throws her head back in passion. Henry looks down at her, watching her, as they move together before leaning down and biting her neck once more.

Henry had always been in love with Aria. I mean how he could not. They grew up together. Played together as children. He was heartbroken when she disappeared with her mother, without saying goodbye. Then he met Christina. She was there to pick up the pieces and for someone to love, someone there to also love him back. He had thought he lost Aria forever the last time they had met and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her now. He wasn't going to lose her, he's lost her plenty of times in his many lifetimes, but now, she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

Vicki was finally able to sneak in past the doorman and up to the floor Aria was staying on. She found the door number, picking the lock, and letting herself inside. She takes out her flashlight as she looks around. She sees a few sketches on the walls, some copies of Blood Price on the tables. She walks into the bedroom snooping around, going through drawers, not finding much of anything useful. Vicki sighs walking over to a bookcase. She looks around and notices book with a symbol on the spine. She grabs it and starts looking through it. She sees births and deaths, names, photographs. "Family history?" She mumbles to herself. She looks in the section under the 1500's."_On this day, it is to be known that Aria Elizabeth Stuart is betrothed to be married to Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond at the age of 16."_ Vicki reads out loud. "Betrothed. Marriage." Vicki mumbles to herself. She takes out her phone to take pictures of a few of the pages before placing the book back on the shelf. She heads towards the door, when she feels someone behind her.

"Who's there?" Vicki says.

"I believe the real question is who are you and what are you doing in my daughter's apartment." The man says. Vicki turns around facing the man.

"From what I heard, you're not exactly welcome here either." She states.

The laughs. "My daughter and I may not be on the best of terms right now, but we're more alike then she lets on." He states. "Her mother trained her well, but so did I. Why do you think her mother took her from me?" He says

"Because you tried to kill them." Vicki says.

"There are three sides to every story and up to you to decide which side to believe." He states. "Remember that Ms. Nelson." He says before disappearing. Vicki stands there for a bit before getting the hell out of there.

* * *

"Hmm." Aria whispers waking up. "Hi." She whispers when she sees Henry looking down at her, caressing her hair while she rested.

"Hello." He smiles a bit before placing his hand on her cheek and kissing her. She deepens the kiss before pulling away smiling.

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened with us, if my mother never took me away?" She whispers.

"Are you saying, would have I ever met Christina and become a vampire?" He asks. She simply nods to him as she plays with the necklaces around his neck. "Well, I think we would have gotten married and had kids. A family. "He whispers. "But then I would have died at some point. While you and our children still lived." He whispers moving hair from her face. "We wouldn't be here now." He says.

"No, we wouldn't be." She whispers. "And I like where we are." She smiles straddling over him. He smirks up at her running his hands up and down her naked sides. She leans down to kiss his neck, then his chest, and lower. She smirks when she notices him gripping onto the soft, slick red sheets. She gets up leaning over his face smirking.

"What are you doing?" He mumbles.

"I think we both know." She whispers. "You can feel that it's almost sunrise."

He groans. "So, you're just going to leave me?" He says kissing up her neck.

"Until tomorrow, my love." She whispers. "I'll stay with you until sunrise." She says laying down next to him. Henry looks over at her. "I love you." He whispers.

"I love you too." She whispers kissing him quickly before he takes his last breath until sunset.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wait a minute? Betrothed to be married?" Coreen says.

"Uh, yeah. That's what the book said." Vicki says. "I just I don't understand. Henry never mentioned that before. He's only ever talked about Christina and a few other acquaintances, but never her and never anything about marriage." She says.

"Are you jealous?" Coreen smirks.

"Why would I be jealous?" Vicki says. "Henry's my partner. Friends. Nothing more." She says.

"Uh huh." Coreen says.

"Can we get back to trying to figure out what her motive might be in coming here?" Vicki says. "Her father mentioned that he also spent time training her and if he's in the dark magic, then she probably knows more then she leads on and more then Henry knows about." She says.

"So, what did her father say exactly?" Coreen asks.

"That she's more like him then she leads on." Vicki says. "Which could mean all sort of things. She could be after him for his power. She could be using us to get to him." She says. "I don't know." Vicki says taking her glasses off and throwing them on the desk. "But all I know is, if he's right and she's like him, then we're going to have to stop the two of them."

"What about Henry?" Coreen says.

"What about him?" Vicki says.

"We have to tell him." Coreen says.

"Which is where I'm headed." Vicki says heading to the door "You coming?" She asks looking back at Coreen.

* * *

Coreen and Vicki get to Henry's apartment shortly after sunset. Vicki knocks on the door, which is quickly answered by a shirtless Henry.

"Good morning." Vicki smirks walking in.

"Do you ever wait to be invited into someone's home or is it just mine that you invite yourself?" Henry asks.

Vicki laughs turning to him. "Just yours." She says.

"Do you have any information regarding the case or are you just here to check up on me?" Henry asks.

"A little bit both." Vicki says.

"Well, I'm obviously fine, so let's hear about the case." Henry says crossing his arms.

"I had a run in with Aria's father." Vicki says.

"He came by the office?" Henry asks concerned.

"Not exactly." Coreen mumbles causing Vicki to glare at her.

"Okay, so I might have went snooping through her apartment." Vicki says.

"You broke into her house and went through her things?" Henry asks. "Why? If you needed to know something, I'm sure she would have told you, have you asked. Same with me." Henry says.

"Like how you two were supposed to get married." Vicki says. "That's the hold that she has over you, isn't it. Why you keep going back?" Vicki says.

"Yes.. and no." Henry sighs. "It's much more complicated then that." He says. "But yes, if you must know, when my father agreed to recognize me as his son, I became part of court, which meant that I would be put in a marriage that would help my father. Since, Aria's father was a nobleman, close to the king, our fathers betrothed us. Our wedding was set to happen three days before she disappeared and yes, I loved her. I still do. But how did you find this information?" Henry says looking over at Vicki.

"She found Aria's family history book." Coreen buts in.

"Her family's memoir." Henry corrects. "Find anything else interesting that you would like to question me about, or are you going to get to the part about the run in with her father?"

"He told me a few things. Like how he trained her, not just her mother. That she's more like him then she lets on." Vicki says. "How much do you really know about her, Henry?" She says.

"More then you. Aria would never mess with the dark arts unless she absolutely had to and even then she would make sure that was the only way." Henry says.

"Until now. She was quite adamant about doing this ritual, that you're so against, I might add, without looking for another way." Vicki says.

"Because she's scared. She's a strong woman, Vicki, but she's terrified. I can sense it. This is her father after all." Henry says. "She's knows what he's capable of."

"Exactly, he is her father after all. How do you know that she's not wanting to be like him? How do you know that she's not trying to kill him for his power, so she can become this almighty powerful witch herself?" Vicki says.

"She's not like that. She's not like him!" Henry defends.

"People change Henry. People grow up, have issues." Vicki says. "Besides, it's been what over 2 centuries since you've seen her last. You don't know what's she's done or what she's involved herself in since you've seen her." She says.

"Maybe not, but you've known of her for all of two days and you want to tell me that I don't know her?" Henry says. "What is it about her that you don't like? The fact that we have history? That I love her. What?" He says.

"She's hiding something, Henry. I know it." She says.

"So, that's why you went to her apartment. It wasn't about the case at all. Are you even taking this case seriously? Or are you more concerned about her?" Henry says.

"She is the case, Henry." Vicki says.

"Of course, now if that's all you came here for.." He says. "I have plans." Henry says.

"Let me guess, Dinner with Aria." Vicki says.

"Perhaps." He says. "She'll be arriving soon, so if you could please let yourself out." He nods towards the door. "Goodnight Coreen." He says ignoring Vicki.

* * *

Aria was 10 minutes shy of running into Vicki and Coreen, when she arrives outside of Henry's apartment. She let herself in placing her pizza box on the counter.

Henry was working on a few of his sketches, when Aria walks over. "Something's wrong." Aria states.

"What makes you think that?" Henry as he continues shading the drawing.

"Well, I can sense that you're tense. Upset." She says. "And someone broke into my apartment. You wouldn't have any idea who that might have been do you?" She says taking a slice of pizza.

He sighs throwing his pen on the desk. "It was Vicki." He says. "She just needed some information."

"And she couldn't have spoken with me about this?" Aria asks.

"She as her ways in finding information. She believes that no one is 100% truthful, so she goes sleuthing to fact check." He says.

"But she trusts you." Aria says.

"She does, yes." Henry nods.

"But not about me. She doesn't trust you, about me." She says walking around the apartment.

"In a sense. She thinks my love for you and our history is blinding me from seeing what is truly there." He says.

"And what is that exactly?" Aria asks. "What is it that she sees that you don't?"

"She believes you're hiding something and that feeling of hers didn't let up anymore after her meeting your father." Henry says. "So, tell me, is there something that you're hiding from me?" He asks. Aria sighs. Henry appears in front of her. "You will tell me." He tells her in a trance.

"You should know me better than that." Aria says pushing him away. "You don't need to force me into anything. I'll tell you." Aria says. "The reason I left court was because my father had been training me in the dark arts. My mother could see what he was doing. He was trying to train me to become part of his army. He made it his mission to find others of our kind and drain them of their powers. My mother took me away before he could brainwash me anymore. When we were away, my mother explained to me about my father, who he truly was and what he was about. I hated him. I hated him for trying to use me as a pawn in his game. When my mother died, I had no idea it was him. I went to him for comfort. He was the sweet, caring, loving, father that I had always known. I fell into his trap, into his practices." She sighs. "I became his pawn, something I swore to my mother I would never do. It took me almost an year to realize that he killed my mother and not only did he use her to gain power, but to gain me. He knew that I would be so heartbroken, I would seek my father and he used that to his advantage." Aria says. "I'm not proud of what I did, or who I was during that time. It's something that I have to live with, but Henry I swear to you, I'm not like him. Not anymore. I don't want to become him. I want him gone for good. I want to be rid of the hold that he has over me." She whispers to him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Henry whispers.

"Because I knew how you felt about magic and the time that we shared after all of this happened, was very limited. I didn't want to spend that time talking, exactly." She says.

"So, why is he after you now?" Henry asks.

"Because I'm the only one who knows his plan and who can stop him. He sees me as a threat, so I must be stopped." Aria says. "But I need help. I need help in trapping in. Finding a place where we can hold him, so I can finally fight him." She says.

Henry sighs.

"I understand if you're upset and I'm sorry that I never told." Aria says. Henry doesn't say anything, just stares out the window. "I'll leave then." Aria whispers grabbing her coat. Before she could place her hand the door, Henry was there in front of her.

"Don't. Don't go." He whispers. Aria looks up at him.

"We both have a past Aria. We can't change that, but we can learn from it." He whispers before leaning down to kiss her.

* * *

"He's not thinking clearly." Vicki sighs.

"How do you know that? Henry was right. He's known her a lot longer then we have." Coreen says.

"Exactly. Which means that he's only focusing on the times that he's been with her. The her that he's seen. There have been more years of them apart then together, he doesn't understand that." Vicki says.

"So, basically you're saying, he's blinded by love?" Coreen says.

"This girl is the only thing linking him back to who he once was. Someone that he was supposed to spend his life with. Someone he was supposed to love. He's lost her time and time again over his many lifetimes, and now that she's back, he's going to do anything to keep her. Regardless of how irrational it is. I mean look at the last decision he made because he was in love." Vicki says. "Henry and love doesn't end well."


End file.
